Pot holder



March" 7, 1950 s. MERKIN 2,499,601

POT HOLDER Filed June 13, 19 7 INVENTO R. JOPH/A MERK/N ATTORNEYPatented Mar. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to pot holders-more particularly to heatinsulated pads employed for grasping and holding hot pots, pans and thelike.

It is primarily within the contemplation of my invention to provide apot holder adapted for convenient manual grasping, and constructed so asto prevent its inadvertent slipping or turning in the hand, therebyobviating the danger of burning or singeing the skin which frequentlyoccurs in using conventional devices of this category. And in theaccomplishment of this objective, it is a further object to employ apocket or receptacle conveniently adapted to receive the thumb, and yetwhich will leave the other fingers and the palm of the hand entirelyfree for properly and effectively manipulating the pot holder.

It is a further object of my invention to enable the pot holder to beconveniently suspended in such manner that the pocket will be sodisposed as to enable the thumb to be readily and quickly insertedtherein, with the rest of the hand in proper position thereagainst. Andin this aspect of my invention it is a further object to enable thedevice to serve its intended function for use either with the right orleft hand.

It is further within the contemplation of this invention, in a preferredform thereof, to provide the thumb receptacles above mentioned withoutsubstantially interfering with any design or ornamentation which mayappear on the opposite faces of the device.

Ano+her object of my invention is to enable the thumb compartment to beclearly indicated, so that a user may readily and quickly grasp theholder for operative use.

It is also an object of this invention to enable all the component partsthereof including the insula ing padding, to be firmly, securely andimmovably held in place.

Another important objective of this invention is to provide a method ofconstruct ng this device in a simple, convenient and inexpensive manner.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings andthe description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front view of a preferred form of my invention shown inthe position it would assume when suspended from its loop;

Figure 2 is a pattern of the thumb insert for the right hand side of thedevice;

Figure 3 is a pattern of the right hand facing of the device, with aslit for the pocket opening;

Figure 4 represents the assembly of the elements of Figures 2 and 3sewed together as one step in the method of my invention, a portion ofthe facing being folded back for clarity;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section of Figure 4 taken along line 5.5showing the seam construction;

Figure 6 represents a further step in the method of my invention,showing the thumb portion stitched completely around its periphery tothe facing, and showing a binding edge along the slit;

Figure 7 is a section of Figure 6- taken along line 1--'l;

Figure 8 is a section of Figure 1 taken along line 8--8;

Figure 9 is a view substantially like Figure 1, but showing a modifiedform of my invention 7 with a patch pocket thumb receptacle; and

Figure 10 is a section of Figure 9 taken along line Ill-4U.

In the preferred form of my invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, thepot holder consists of a right hand facing l5 and a left hand facing l6(see Figures 1 and 8). Each of the facings contains a thumb pocketformed by a slit and inner thumb insert, the elements on opposite sidesbeing identical, except that one is adapted for the right hand and theother for the left hand, the elements being congruent. For the purposesof this specification, the detailed description will only be given withrespect to the right hand side of the device, it being understood thatthe left hand side is identical in construction.

The facing sheet i5 is preferably of generally elongated proportions,and contains upper and lower edges B and C, respectively, and lateraledges D and E. The facing contains the slitted portion l'l extendinginwardly from the juncture 24; of bottom edge C and lateral edge Dtowards the central portion of the sheet. In the preferred construction,the said slitted portion ll contains a binding 19 serving not only toprotect the slitted edge, but also to clearly indicate and define theopening to the pocket 20 formed by the outer facing l5 and the thumbinsert 2!. The periphery i8 is preferably formed by an edging or binding22, disposed along the entire outer edge of the device where facings l5and iii are sewn together by stitching 23. At the said juncture 24 ofthe slitted portion H and the lower and lateral edges C and D there is aloop 25, preferably, although not necessarily, formed as a continuationof the edging 22. Between the opposite facings l 5'and it and the thumbinserts is the insulating padding 26 which may be made of cotton or anyother suitable heat insulating material. This padding is held immovablysecured in place by the stitching 21 extending through the entire bodyof the device outside of the aforesaid thumb portions.

When the device is operatively suspended in the position shown in Figure1, it is apparent that the opening I! will be substantially verticallydisposed, so that the thumb could readily be inserted by moving it inthe direction of arrow A. Thus it is unnecessary to remove the devicefrom its point of support in order to operatively apply it to a hand. Inthis connection it will be noted that the edging l9 clearly defines theopening, and accordingly makes it easier to properly position the thumb.The other fingers of the hand, including the palm, are disposed on theoutside of the pot holder, against the outer facing 15, so that there iscomplete freedom efi'ectively to manipulate the device. Due to thediagonal disposition of the slitted portion ll, the device is positionedsecurely and conveniently in relation to the hand, so that the manualgrasping action of the pot holder will prevent it slipping out of thehand or turning in the hand. The arrangement is also such that the thumbcan readily be withdrawn from the pocket-so that the entire operation ofinserting or withdrawing the hand can be done without loss of time.

It will be observed that the only outward indication, in this preferredform of my invention, of an inner thumb compartment is the slittedportion H. The arrangement is hence such that this slitted portionconstitutes hardly any interference whatsoever with the externalappearance of the facing. Hence, if an ornamental design is employed onthe facing, such design is not covered or in any other way interferedwith by the structural elements of my invention. This is particularlytrue if the binding I9 is very thin, or is entirely dispensed with;although even if a more noticeable binding i9 is employed, theinterference with the outer design is negligible.

In the method of producing the device of Figures 1 to 8, a thumb insert2% is first out according to predetermined configuration (there being acorresponding thumb insert on the other side of the holder). A pattern15 is also cut out, to provide the front facing, the slit Ha beingformed by first positioning insert 21 against facing l5, in its properposition, and then getting the direction of the slit Ila by thedirection of the edge ilb. Thereafter the edge 28 on the palm side ofthe facing is bent in, and the corresponding edge 29 of the thumb insert2i is bent in, both portions being sewed together by a line of stitching38, as indicated in Figure 4. The next step is the sewing on of theedging l 9 to the edge 3| on the thumb side of the facing, whereafter,by a line of stitching 32, the entire thumb insert 2| is attached to thefacing.

After these operations are performed on both facings i5 and [6 theassembled parts are placed in facing relation, with the padding 25therebetween, and then sewed together by a line of stitching 22 to formthe peripheral portion of the device, the edging l8 being attached bythe same operation.

In the modification of my invention shown in Figures 9 and 10, the thumbcompartment 33 is formed by a separate patch 34 sewed over the surfaceof the facing 35. Although in this construction a part of the facing 35(and the opposite facing 36) is covered by the patch pocket arrangement,nevertheless in certain other respects the construction is similar tothe form first mentioned, inasmuch as the slitted portion 3'! extendsinwardly diagonally from the periphery 30 towards the center of thedevice, and the loop portion 39 extends from the periphery at point 49at which the slitted portion 31 joins the outer edging 4|.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by wayof example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations andmodifications may be made therein which will still be comprised withinits spirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is notlimited to any specific form or manner of practicing same, except in sofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a pot holder, two oppositely disposed peripherally attached facingsheets, a heat-insulating padding therebetween, an edging strip securedto the peripheries of said facing sheets, a loop extending from saidedging strip, a thumb pocket on each facing sheet and adjacent aperipheral portion thereof, each of said pockets comprising a partitionsheet of generally thumbshaped proportions attached along a portion ofits periphery to its facing sheet and leaving a portion unattached toprovide a thumb entrance edge, the said entrance edges each extendinginwardly from the portion of the edging strip from which the loopextends, said entrance edges being substantially in alignment with theextent of said loop, whereby the entrance edges will be verticallydisposed when the holder is operatively suspended from the loop.

2. In a pot holder, the combination according to claim 1, the saidpartition sheets each being attached to the inner surface of thecorresponding facing sheet, the facing sheets being slitted adjacent thesaid entrance edges, to provide openings for the insertion of the thumbof either hand.

3. In a pot holder, two oppositely disposed peripherally attached facingsheets, a heat-insulating padding therebetween, an edging strip securedto the peripheries of said facing sheets, a loop extending from saidedging strip, a thumb pocket on each facing sheet and adjacent aperipheral portion thereof, each of said pockets comprising a partitionsheet of generally thumbshaped proportions attached along a portion ofits periphery to its facing sheet and leaving a portion unattached toprovide a thumb entrance edge, the said entrance edges each extendinginwardly from the edging strip.

4. In a pot holder, the combination according to claim 3, the saidpartition sheets each being attached to the inner surface of thecorresponding facing sheet, the facing sheets being slitted adjacent thesaid entrance edges, to provide openings for the insertion of the thumbof either hand.

SOPHIA MERKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 942,262 Iverson Dec. '7, 19091,464,529 Holcomb Aug. 14, 1923 1,714,648 Walker May 28, 1929 1,919,084Wyant July 18, 1933 2,261,064 Katz Oct. 28, 1941 2,375,129 Norton May 1,1945

